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January 21st, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Anonymous:
I think the site had a fart, sorry anyway
Yes, thats a good page
http://www.marketwatch.com/Def.....iteid=mktw
I see it referances 5000 layoffs at Ericsson, 4000 layoffs at Motorola, 2000 at Sony. This wave just keepes getting bigger, when it breaks it’s really gonna be ugly. When EI runs out on all these millions of unemployed it will really get wild.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:43 pm
“PS . I was by a site on No.#3 and Granville yesterday and the entire drywall crew was Mexician. So it seems that the
labour issues are ubiquitous. When I was last in Hawaii the drywall guys doing renos in my bldg were all Mexician as well. Just an observation.
Mucho more job losses announced today, ex;”
Tienes muchas problemas con Mexicanas? Nos ciudad es multiculturales. If you don’t like it, beat it kid.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Regarding refugees and “my facts”
I have been a site superintendent for about 4 years and a tradesman carpenter for many years before that. This background includes work at Millenieum Water 4 and a very brief stint with Onni Construction.
I would not be able to count the number of sites I have been on. Virtually every one had foreign workers to some degree or another. I have also run painting crews, and was driven out of business 5 years ago by espanol sub contractors who can pay their illegal workers far less than any Canadian would or could accept.
My facts come from many years of personal experience. If you doubt the truth of it you could stake out the Sally Anne and follow the large number of “refugees” who leave for work tomorrow morning.
Report back on where they are working. That would be a real service to taxpayers in this Province who are stuck paying “refugees” welfare for years.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
_KC:
I saw a girl interviewed on Global who said that she made a successful lower offer. Plenty of inventory piling up.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
elise:
these are all the specuvestor ( second) houses AND builders inventory, these guys were slow but I guess they’re not all stupid enough to realise that the ship is sinking, what you’re seeing is the rats jumping into the sea. When the really stupid ones get a whiff of reality , (and that includes the off shore holders) , and losses pile up and hope is lost in the news headlines of food lines and growing unemployment, then the real rush to list the dogs will accelerate, it happened just that way in the 80′s. The result was that nothing sold for a long long time. I remember we called it ‘the bitter winter of 83-84. Buisness just went dead.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Regarding Millenieum
A body has really got to wonder what kind of message is being sent to existing and potential MW buyers (aka speculators/bag holders) Its very much like …
“A HA sucker, we’ve got you now and you aren’t getting out of this terrible contract. We’re gonna keep our krappy broke developer so that you are screwed for tens of thousands.”
Kind of a hard sell now for new buyers to join this club o’ fools ain’t it?
January 21st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Stoxxman:
About your “facts” – how about something to back them up, other than van-sightings and dubious personal acnecdotes?
Sure, an employer should not hire anyone without a valid work permit. And refugees are not, as far as I know, permitted to work. Nevertheless, the point you appear to state is that refugees, and others not permitted to work , are working on major construction projects in Vancouver en masse. However, as mentioned, you provide no proof to support your controversial allegations.
EB: That’s an ironic reference to Orwell, given that what may be deceitful here is espousing unfounded conclusions (which some here have no qualms parroting, sadly) regarding Latino refugees and the “threat” they pose to the livelihood of construction workers who work here legally.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Regarding the MAC/Onni condo fire sale.
Appears genius marketing dopes finally figured out that the initial breathlessly spewed figure of $ 350m “worth” of condos when there are 375 of em doesn’t make any sense unless buyers are forking out $ 940,000 each. Those clever monkeys almost fooled us all eh?
Newly revised figure is $ 150m “worth” of condos. Dopes.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm
39 _KC Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Does anyone have a theory on how this will affect the rental market? From my own observations, rental units are still horribly overpriced (the Rise, South Granville Lofts… etc). Will this flood of new inventory help ease the pain of rental units??
=====================================================
IMHO…those landlords in stubborn mode/denial will be SOL.
There is a limited number of renters…and an increasing oversupply of units. The smart landlords who appreciate the true market facts will start the cherry -picking now ASAP for the best tenants and keep them happy.
My advice (and speaking from a family that has been landlords for over 40 years ) is ask a bit less than the market price…don’t get greedy…and you will have a much lower vacancy rate.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
ergopolis:Your link doesn’t work maybe you mean http://www.marketwatch.com
January 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Just curious:
Bob Rennie apparently gets a flat fee of $50,000 for the Millenium Olympic Village condo his company “sells”.
They have “Pre-sold” over 200 of these.
What money would Rennie be guaranteed , if any? ie if the pre -sales do NOT complete and instead decide to bail on their deposit.
Is Rennie SOL …..or does he get a cut from the leftovers aka percentage of the forfeited deposit.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Does anyone have a theory on how this will affect the rental market? From my own observations, rental units are still horribly overpriced (the Rise, South Granville Lofts… etc). Will this flood of new inventory help ease the pain of rental units??
January 21st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
“Hate to be sounding like a flaming prejudiced Archie Bunker but the facts are what they are, and its absolutely no secret in the business. ”
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ” – Orwell
January 21st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Anybody else seeing a flood of new listings on MLS? I’m guessing many aren’t actually new, they’re probably relists from year end expirys, but WOW! People don’t seem to be waiting for spring.
The funny thing is all the teardowns listed just above half-million. Guess they didn’t get the memo. Hope springs eternal!
January 21st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Regarding “refugees”
They ARE collecting welfare. Every refugee collects welfare the day they claim refugee status. Look outside the Sally Anne downtown on most mornings. A van pulls up and a group of espanole jumps in to go to work. Anybody really care to wonder why the homeless have no beds in this Province?
What really chaffs are the dope peddlers. Once charged with an offense they CANNOT be deported until the charges are dealt with in court, and that can take years.
I resent being called racist for stating the facts. My point was very simply was that those without employment staus in this country SHOULD NOT be working on a site funded by taxpayers.
Regarding presales agreements
If a body is paying an extra $100k on their mortgage because they bought stupid high in a resale it makes full sense to walk away from the deposit. Given the state of developers, getting sued shouldn’t concern … most won’t be around in a 12 to 18 months anyways. BC Supreme court actions are years long without even trying to delay and a reasonably intelligent monkey might not need a lawyer for a looooong time.
Regarding Millenieum
These condos need to be built to a less than “luxury” standard, period. Where are 500 millionaires going to come from? Millenieum is less than a bit player now and their continued mismangement is doing far more harm than good. I can’t even imagine what their role is supposed to be now anyways. It certainly ain’t developer or financier.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
D D D D deflation is here.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Bu.....story.html
OTTAWA — Canada’s big banks, amid warnings of further economic deterioration and below-zero inflation, wasted little time Tuesday in passing on the full measure of the latest interest-rate relief from the Bank of Canada.
….
In the meantime, the Bank of Canada is projecting that inflation this year will fall below zero for two quarters as a result of the plunge in energy prices before eventually moving back up to the central bank’s two per cent target but not until the first half of 2011.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:50 pm
“It is a mystery why developers will go to great lengths to hack down the tradespeople and then turn around and hand out whopping commissions to “presentation centre agents” who sit in a chair in a sparsely furnished commercial space with gleaming stainless steel appliance package WITH COMMERCIAL GRADE RANGE!”
You only receive a “whopping commission” when you actually sell something, up to that point, most make nothing. When business was good, everyone was making money, trades people and salespeople. Now, most presentation centers are empty and adjacent job sites although have smaller crews, are still working and taking home a paycheck.
I’m not on the side of most developers in this town, don’t get me wrong, as I see them as the “root of all evil” here in the Lower Mainland and what I feel are directly responsible for this RE market mess, what bugs me the most is at what point are they wealthy enough? At what cost to their fellow citizens who at some shape of form helped them to get to where they are now? Most founders have handed down their development business to the next generation and these sons and daughters are now running the show, but do they care about other people, or just carrying on the legacy their fathers have left them and become more wealthy and I guess in turn more successful than them?? I’m not talking about having lots of money, we call this STUPID money. It’s so much, you can’t even dream it. So when you wonder why they are liquidating the <400 units around the Lower Mainland, most of the family are back east now raping the Torontonians. They couldn’t care less about the unsold units here; it was part of the master plan. And they are definitely not going out of business. I’m sure they will welcome the losses
January 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
30 realpaul Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
NO -LYMPICS:
does that include putting turnstyles on the crime trains? It seems to me that political correctness is the problem not the solution.
============================================
We can afford to be “liberal” when times are good.
We can’t afford to be “liberal” when times are bad.
We have turned a blind eye to so much bad , we have literally granted it a permit…look out when the shite REALLY hits the fan.
Crime train?
It’ll be even more of a crime train in bad economic times, that is pretty obvious and for a number of reasons.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
16000 lay offs at IBM Wow!!!
http://layoffblog.com/2009/01/.....his-month/
January 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
great tech layoff blog, is there one for vancouver canada? getting information here is like being a detective, it’s like some big secret, even though thousands are being affected. So why all the secrecy?
http://layoffblog.com/2008/12/.....a-hi-tech/
January 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
NO -LYMPICS:
does that include putting turnstyles on the crime trains? It seems to me that political correctness is the problem not the solution.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:21 pm
http://www.marketwatch.com/new.....aspx?guid={9FB49E5D-1085-4592-8159-421B05D51CA2}&siteid=yahoomy
January 21st, 2009 at 12:21 pm
When the shite its the fan, and the writing is on the wall it will…and Big Time , its a natural human reaction to look at the citizens who are here legally versus those who are not.
If you have made Canada your home , either via via born here or immigrated here, you should be givnen first dibs on jobs. If you are a so – called refugee…are you here legally ? What are you an actual refuge of ?
Charity begins at home… and moreso when times are tough.
What sense does it make to turn a blind eye to an illegal alien who undercuts a Canadian citizen who may then end up homeless due to whinny Lefties on the social engineering political -correctness pulpit-tangent?
That is not racism nor “redneck”…mainly due to if the country can’t take care of its own…or enforce its own rules which should be in it’s citizesn own best and better interests, then the “rule of law “no longer applies nor will be respected, and the REAL Rednecks will come out.
Charity begins at Home .
January 21st, 2009 at 11:53 am
Stoxxman:
Now that the COV is in fact lead developer isn’t it a bit strange for them to be continuing to use undocumented labourers? Isn’t that ( gasp) illegal?
Is there no shame.
PS . I was by a site on No.#3 and Granville yesterday and the entire drywall crew was Mexician. So it seems that the
labour issues are ubiquitous. When I was last in Hawaii the drywall guys doing renos in my bldg were all Mexician as well. Just an observation.
Mucho more job losses announced today, ex;
http://www.globeinvestor.com/s.....1/GIStory/
January 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Stoxxman:
So for refugess, what’s the alternative to working, collecting welfare? I guess they just can’t win. They’re either “taking our jobs!!” or “welfare bums!!” The thinly veiled racism in your posts ought to be denounced. In that spirit, I’m doing that right here. What a load! How about just sticking to RE topics?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:13 am
Mayor Gregors Olympic Village Advisory Group “Dream Team”
“This advisory group will bring valuable expertise and insight as we move forward with the completion of the Olympic Village,” said Mayor Robertson. “We are committed to completing the project on time, as well as acting in the best interests of Vancouver taxpayers. The advisory group will help the City achieve these goals.”
Mayor Robertson will draw on the expertise of 10 volunteer members over the coming months to provide advice on the Olympic Village project. Members of MAGOV are:
Ward S. McAllister, president and CEO, Ledingham McAllister Properties Ltd. (Chair)
Maureen Enser, executive director, Urban Development Institute
Andrew Grant, president PCI Development Corp.
Rob Macdonald, principal, Macdonald Development Corp.
John Mackay, president, Strand Properties Corp.
Eric Martin, vice president, development, Bosa Development
David Negrin, president, Aquilini Development
David Podmore, president and CEO, Concert Properties Ltd.
Al Poettcker, president and CEO, UBC Properties Trust
Peeter Wesik, chairman and owner, WesGroup Income Properties
“On behalf of all 10 volunteer members, we are proud to donate our time and share our expertise to ensure a successful completion of the Olympic Village project,” said Maureen Enser, executive director of the Urban Development Institute (UDI). “Vancouver is a world-class city, and the Olympic Village will be a world-class waterfront and sustainable development. We’re happy to help make that a reality.”
=======================================
I counted the term “World Class” 2 x’s
Wow!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
Where did Freako go?
I liked reading freako’s comments as well.
Anybody that have financial blogs they like to recommend?
Considering it is January, foggy, cold, depressed mood out there, there sure a lot of places for sale, do they think they can sell these houses/condos really? And more are waiting to go on the market when the cherry blossoms celebrates the upcoming summer – yes it is coming.
In a way I kind of feel bad for them, but then on the other hand, I know that these “investors” would be rubbing their luck (if it did go up foreeeverr..) in the bears/frugals faces. So, my feelings are ambivalent: feel sorry for them or tell them karma bites greed in the butt.
I will enjoy the blossoms, keep healthy, and live. But not so sure how many others will fare. I guess it is good to be a bear, follow my instinct, in spite of a “civilized” society, it is still the survival of the fittest.
The bubble was too good to be true, dont you think?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am
19 kuroame Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 10:35 am
any suggestions on how one would go about outing this?
=========================================================
Sure:
—call the BC Fed.
—call the Media.
—call WorkSafe
—Call TaxMan
—do as stoxxman says ie yell “Immigray !!!”
etc.
Sooner or later this type of story will hit the fan.
Best approach is sooner…but low key…quietly ask the illegals to leave…no need to get the General Public overly pissed off .
The Gov’t already made it easier for foreign workers to work here…if they are here LEGALLY then IMHO they should have the right to continue, that is only fair.
I’m sure we know this goes on with the Mom and Pop size projects as well …, but this Olympic Village one is of a scope that could cause a lot of problems ,protests and delays, and added costs to COV if not checked out.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:57 am
Stoxxman: It’s not that easy to walk from a pre-sales. If the city drops Millenium than presales buyers can get out of their contract and not lose any money. If the city keeps Millenium then buyers can still walk, but they lose their deposits and would likely also lose the difference between what they paid and what the current market value is.
Other local developers have already said they will go after presales buyers for the difference between what they agreed to pay and what the current market value is if they try to get out of their contract.
The city knows they can’t get anywhere near what those presales are locked in for, not for the foreseeable future. Holding on to Millenium is the only way they can lock in those that bought presales at the peak of the market.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:47 am
Re QUATTRO Development in Whalley
( which was destroyed by an arson fire last year).
http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id31752
Surrey condominium developer announces move-in date for Quattro 1
Richard Gilbert
staff writer
QUOTE:
The developers of Quattro condominiums in Surrey, B.C. have announced a completion date for one of the buildings damaged by fire in early October.
Charan Sethi, principal of Tien Sher Group of Companies, announced that home owners will tentatively be able to move into their homes at Quattro 1 by March.
The building had about 12 units damaged by water and heat.
It was originally scheduled to open in November.
However, the fate of a building that burnt to the ground is less clear.
Fire destroyed 116 housing units in the four-storey Quattro 2 building.
A crane on the site, which suffered damaged when flames shot into the sky and set the operators box on fire, was dismantled on Oct 20.
Burnt material was removed from the slab a couple of days later and the removal was completed in a couple of weeks.
Structural engineers then assessed the foundation and the parkade.
“This work has been ongoing, but we got a preliminary report last week and are getting the final report from the structural engineer,” said Sethi.
“Once we get the final report we will be able to set a tentative date on Quattro 2 as well.”
Sethi said he will be meeting with the workers, who will fix the parkade, but it depends on the engineers’ report.
“We are working as fast as possible to rebuild this development,” Sethi said.
“At the same time, we are co-operating with investigators and insurance providers to ensure a speedy resolution to this situation.”
The police and fire departments investigation continues.
The $625-million Quattro condominium project in North Whalley is the largest residential and commercial project in Surrey.
====================================================
Millenium and Quattro similar?
In my view…Quatros’ developers are rebuilding the totlay destroyed Quattro 2 phase as a means to not let pre-sale purchasers any easy outs of the sales agreements.
Similarly it has been noted that the COV, with this ill-advised public =private Olympic Village venture…is locked in with Millenium like a Siamese twin, and if Millenium is forced out the pre sales purchasers may have an excuse to bail as well…so Millenium is now a shell/puppett for the COV’s best interests
.
However back to QUATTRO…a while back a VCO poster asked about why peole go to areas like Whalley..and the answer is one has to go to the areas that are more affordable at the time.
However, if Vancouver, the ground zero of lack of affordability gets a major haircut due to the most oversupply, and thus much cheaper than before… one wonders if these areas like Whalley(and developments like QUATTRO) will be able to attract purchasers, given it ain’t got that great a reputation.
My guess is QUATTRO may think its kept its buyers, but my prediction is they are bailing as we speak.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am
RUN DO WHILE LOOP ON BEARS
BULLS Are runing a do while loop on bears but when ever bears get trapped in the loop somehow they are able to copy themself through system restore point in a result this graph on main post is being repeated too often.Now bulls have decided to turn off system restore point before runing do while loop that way bears can not return back through system restore,Fresh loop is as following…
row 10 column 5 “Vancouver Boom2 acquisition is In Progress”
12.5″3wk Average prices for January 2009 $858.000.Bencmark Price?.”
13.5″August 2007,Average Price $856,107 Benchmark $726,067.”
14.5″Calculate the difference
15.5″SURE”
16.5″Inventory Specially in Vancouver show result?. Soaked”
17.5″Bears case deletion is being requested”
18.5″Successful deletion is guaranteed by April 2009″
20.10″Vancouver Boom2 acquisition progress will be countinue in progress.
21.5″Why”
22.5″Because hey VANCOUVER REAL ESTATE NEVER GO DOWN”
23.5″I like it throw it in the blogs right away.
24.5″OK”
25.30″Post a link for boom2″
26.5″ There you go Boom2 acquisition in progress ”
30.5″FINALLY Schdule loop to be run on April 2009″
31.5″END DO AND WHILE SHOW RESULTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AND SAVED”
January 21st, 2009 at 10:35 am
any suggestions on how one would go about outing this?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:26 am
Wouldn’t be surprised, nor blame, the BC FED for making a big stink if illegal foreign workers are on the Olympic Village job.
One has to presume that premiums were placed on labour and materials costs when the Olympic Village contracts were signed.
So…if some Contractor is
(i)paying someone less than market rate when the job was bid, and pocketing the difference
OR
(ii)outright paying some illegal alien under the table and again pocketing the even larger difference ?
I say N-O way….that is an outright rip-off …time to “out” them.
This project has transformed from a quasi- private sector venture to a PUBLC MAKE -WORK PROJECT.
THUS: The Public is effectivley NOW the major shareholder in the Olympic Village …the cost versus benefit has morphed to workers being paid fair market wages(likley at the old higher rates the job was bid on)….. paying taxes with all the proper deductions.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:21 am
Re : COV Report …
“Millennium has been unable to find alternative financing on any terms on its own strength.”
O.K. Let me get this straight. Millennieum put up 3% of the project value and that dough is now going to be used for the next progress payment on Feb 15.
Millennieum has no equity in this project, thus the reason why nobody will lend them a nickle for the project.
Why, (the flying fork) does the city continue pandering to Millenieum? They mismanaged this project to $ 100 million in cost overuns already. Protecting existing sales? That is rubbish because there’s no motivation for buyers to complete if the value of their deal has dropped massively since they bought. It would pay to walk and lose the deposit irregardless of WHO the supposed developer is.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:12 am
COV Adminstrative Report tabled JAN. 20, 2009
Olympic Village Loan details
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/c.....ts/rr2.pdf
In a first skim over, looks like the COV will be obligated to a LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate)of Minimum 5% plus 4.5% = 9.5 %
Even if LIBOR drops…(which it dropped to 2% in fall 2008)the total interests paid stays at 9.5% MINUMUM
Compounding this may be currency fluctuations,which may add more costs.
In addition, it seems the City is “lending” to Millenium , so how will the City monitor it’s “creditor” ie Millenium…can Millenium play its own games and seek ways to claim breach of contract ie late payments, interference, etc. etc…and sue the City etc.for whatever motives….this could get quite interesting !!!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:07 am
It is a mystery why developers will go to great lengths to hack down the tradespeople and then turn around and hand out whopping commissions to “presentation centre agents” who sit in a chair in a sparsely furnished commercial space with gleaming stainless steel appliance package WITH COMMERCIAL GRADE RANGE!
Why not get some illegals in the display centres?
“would you like one or two today sir/madam?”
January 21st, 2009 at 9:54 am
Im suprised those illegals would bother running, has there ever been an immigration raid at a job site in bc?
January 21st, 2009 at 9:39 am
Hate to be sounding like a flaming prejudiced Archie Bunker but the facts are what they are, and its absolutely no secret in the business.
So. Question. Is the City now in the developers’ shoes and seeking every possible avenue to reduce costs?
If thats the case is it in taxpayers’ interests for the City to turn a blind eye to the fact its site is full of undocumented and illegal foreign workers?
In a Machevellian way it is funny as bloody hell though.
Shout “Immigray !!!” on site and the boys scatter like the wind. They quite literally RUN away.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:27 am
9 Stoxxman Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 8:24 am
Regarding “refugee” labour at Millenieum Water
I was a site superintendent at MW and can state as a 100% guaranteed fact that MANY workers there have no legal work status in this country. Many are “refugees” from Honduras, San Salvador, Guatemala, or have absolutely no legal status here whatsoever.
================================
In the good old days…what one saw was generally ” Out of Province ” license plates but Canadian citizens exercising the mobility provisions the Charter or Rights and Freedoms allow.
However, if, in fact , “illegal aliens” or foreign workers without the proper paperwork do take jobs from the legal candidates.
If anyone should clamp down it is COV…beacuse there will be a backlash if and when it is found that illegal workers on this Olympic Village project are being paid through funds that the COV taxpayer will be paying off for aloooonngg looonnggg time. Local Unemployed will be pissed !!
This begets another question:
Is this monitored and audited ..does the COV simply cut cheques to Contractors who then pay off their workers as they see fit? ie IF ther are illegal workers working cheap, are they paid under the table with what is now TAXPAYER funds via the $500 Million Loan the COV is pursuing ?
January 21st, 2009 at 9:15 am
QUOTE:
“In this environment I condemn the city for continually bragging about how many jobs its saving at the Olympic Village. It started at 1000 and is now up to 2000.”
What I read into this is sheer desperation by the Gov’t.
The Olympic Village has transformed from the World Class (barf) COV investment to now being promoted a ” make work” project reminiscent of those 1930′s Depression photos.
Hearing politicians like Premier Gordo have a knee -jerk comment after allowing the COV Charter amendment to be changed in a literal heartbeat…… and that 2000 count em 2000 PEOPLE ARE KEPT WORKING on what will ultimately become a $1 Billion + monument to publically funded specuvesting and a constant reminder of all that went wrong, is simply both amusing and scary to listen to.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:10 am
Further to the self evident it is common knowledge in the business that painting has been almost completely taken over by Espanole over the past few years. Inside and out.
It takes no capital and very little skill to call oneself a painter and the vast majority of the work is “sub contracted”. Its perfect for semi and unskilled workers and thats the reason “refugees” have graviated towards it.
There will be many, many undocumented painters on the MW site very soon and a body can quote me on that.
Canadians simply can’t compete, and thats a condemnation of a “refugee” program that welcomes illegal labour with open arms and provides an unlimited supply of crack dealers on the DT eastside.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:24 am
Regarding “refugee” labour at Millenieum Water
Since taxpayers will be paying the whole shot for the Olympic Village perhaps its time to question the spewage of those claiming upwards of 2000 jobs will be “saved”.
I was a site superintendent at MW and can state as a 100% guaranteed fact that MANY workers there have no legal work status in this country. Many are “refugees” from Honduras, San Salvador, Guatemala, or have absolutely no legal status here whatsoever.
They work cheap (no benefits), under the table, and don’t complain. As a rule they send most of their wages home. Great deal for developers in boom times, terrible for Canadians who work their asses off and pay their taxes their entire lives and now find themselves unable to find work.
6000 jobs lost in construction last month. That rapidly shrinking pool of work should go to those who legally deserve it.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:16 am
“In this environment I condemn the city for continually bragging about how many jobs its saving at the Olympic Village. It started at 1000 and is now up to 2000.”
whatever the number is it’s only for 8 more months. when that project finishes that is a lot of people to be on the lookout for other opps.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:39 am
“Nov 2005: Rob Chipmans – gets a half point for being moderately bearish”
I’m not sure about a half point; perhaps a 1/10th of a point would be more appropriate, seems to me he entertains the idea the market could correct, but then he gets a sale and he gets smug very fast.
Then there is his sidekick-my god! How did he learn to feed himself.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:33 am
9600 new condos soon to hit the market whilst 141 projects in the lower mainland are looking for buyers as you read this.
At least 13 major projects mothballed (call it 14, Wall project won’t proceed methinks)
In this environment I condemn the city for continually bragging about how many jobs its saving at the Olympic Village. It started at 1000 and is now up to 2000.
From my experience the city had better check that each and every worker is entitled to work in this country. It is no secret that Spanish has become the language of choice for condo construction in the lower mainland, nobody works cheaper. The fastest way to clear an entire building is to shout … Immigray, Policia !!!
January 21st, 2009 at 7:07 am
Re Other RE blogs
Well, maybe Darwin is kicking in (with a little help from God.)
Like everything , contraction, consolidation rationalization etc. happens and blogs are not immune.
The RE Blogs that remain are likley due to popular demand and deserve to live on.
As I have posted before…we are in the midst of major historical events on a global scale and keeping the lines of communication, dialogue , discussion and the continued sharing of infromation are even more important now than before, given what was predicted since these RE blogs opened has now become a reality.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:49 am
alas Jean Gibson!
we hardly knew you
blogs passing in the gloom
January 21st, 2009 at 6:39 am
If they had stood on soapbox and did a fast 1800 degree….
Well, they are VERY skilled spinners! Apropos typo.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:34 am
As an editorial comment, albeit an abstract one :
Maybe the Pastricks , Muirs, Rennies etc. who helped dispensed the Kool aid laced with false sense of hope and security should be the ones to slowly let the air out to the sheep.
They can slowly ratchet down the bad news bit -by -bit.
That way we don’t have riots.
If they had stood on soapbox and did a fast 1800 degree, and apologised for not only being wrong , but perhaps even admitting to many white or even blatant lies, think of the public’s response.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:22 am
I’M #1 I tink